Ousted NDP MP Erin Weir says his behaviour is ‘far from what most Canadians’ would consider harassment

OTTAWA—The Saskatchewan MP expelled from the NDP caucus Thursday after a three-month harassment investigation says his behaviour was “far from what most Canadians would think of as harassment,” and hopes leader Jagmeet Singh welcomes him back to the party fold.

Singh revealed the conclusion of a third-party investigation of Regina—Lewvan MP Erin Weir Thursday morning, when he announced his decision to kick him out of the NDP caucus. The probe concluded that one claim of harassment and three claims of sexual harassment against Weir were “sustained,” Singh said.

Singh said he was originally willing to work with Weir so that he could remain in caucus, but that the MP’s statements about the investigation and the motivations of one of the complainants this week showed he is “unwilling to take appropriate responsibility for his actions.”

“This makes it clear that the rehabilitative approach was no longer possible,” Singh said.

The party leader would not disclose the exact nature of Weir’s behaviour, but said the investigator defined sexual harassment as “acts of a sexual nature that might reasonably be expected to cause offence.” Singh said the investigation found Weir “did not recognize non-verbal signs” in social situations and that this behaviour led to “significant negative impacts” on the complainants.

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He added that when Weir was told “his advances were unwanted, he immediately stopped.”

Weir responded by calling the investigation “deeply flawed” and that he should be reinstated as an NDP caucus member.

In an interview with the Star, Weir said he was presented with a summary of the allegations last month, which made it clear to him that he has missed “social cues” and sometimes sat or stood too close to women, or spoke with them for too long. He said he was not told when, where or who was making the allegations, but that the investigation involved people who were NDP staff or volunteers and that the complainants did not work for him.

“There was no finding of unwanted touching or of any comments or gestures of a sexual nature,’ said Weir, 36. “It was entirely about physical proximity to people and talking to people more than they wish to speak with me.”

A party official speaking on background told the Star later Thursday that Weir’s explanation is a “mischaracterization” of the report’s conclusion. “It was more than simple proximity,” the official said, describing the alleged actions as a “pattern” of behaviour “of a sexual nature.”

Saskatchewan MP Erin Weir says an unnamed staff member accused him of harassment because of his views on carbon pricing. (Adrian Wyld / The Canadian Press)

Weir said the investigation found he did not have authority over any of the complainants, and that the publicized conclusion has tarnished his reputation.

“Anytime anyone Googles ‘Erin Weir’ now, what they’re going to find is ‘harassment.’ And now we have this term ‘sexual harassment’ being used to describe what everyone seems to agree are quite minor incidents,” he said.

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“This is about talking to people at cocktail parties over whom I had no authority,” he said. “I’m a bachelor, so I will approach women that I’m interested in. I don’t know that I’ve ever been described as especially flirtatious.”

The investigation into Weir began in February, after Quebec NDP MP Christine Moore sent an email to the NDP caucus that included unspecified allegations that Weir harassed women, including party employees. Singh responded by saying it is important to believe women, called for a third-party investigation into the allegations and suspended Weir from his party duties while it was being conducted.

Earlier this week, CBC reported that an unnamed woman who took part in the probe accused Weir of making her feel physically intimidated when he acted in an angry and belligerent way. Weir responded with a public statement that alleged the complaint was from someone in former NDP leader Thomas Mulcair’s office, and that he was being accused of harassment because of his stance on carbon pricing.

NDP MPs stood behind Singh’s decision to boot Weir from caucus, with several of them pointing to Weir’s comments about the complainants and the fairness of the investigation.

“At the end, he expelled himself, because there was no trust. There was no will from his part to change anything or to accept the conclusions and recommendations of this independent report,” said Quebec MP Alexandre Boulerice, who said he does not know the details of the report.

“I trust the third-party investigator to have done her work,” said NDP caucus chair Matthew Dubé. “It’s the reason why we put in place this independent process, so that I don’t have to politically speculate on the seriousness or not (of the allegations). I trust in that process and I think that’s very important.”